First Genocide Monument in Canada Inaugurated

LAVAL, Quebec (Horizon Weekly)—The Canadian-Armenian community gathered on Sunday for the unveiling ceremony of an Armenian Genocide monument here, the third largest city in Quebec and the first Armenian Genocide monument in Canada.

With this unveiling, the Canadian-Armenian community renewed its dedication and commitment to our national demands and to the Armenian Cause.

Leaders of all Armenian denominations gathered at the monument, called “Crucifixion, Resurrection, Rebirth,” and performed the religious blessing ceremony, while community leaders, among them the chairman of the Joint Monument Committee, Sako Yacoubian, committee member, Hovig Tufenkndjian and chairman of Canada’s Genocide Centennial Committee, Mher Karakashian all expressed the Canadian-Armenian community’s commitment to justice.

The monument’s creator, sculptor Arto Tchakmakdjian, said the meaning of the monument is hope.

Also speaking at the event was Armenia’s Ambassador to Canada Armen Yeganian who called on the international community to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

Local, regional and federal officials, past and present, were in attendance at the event and spoke about the need for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and condemned the government of Turkey for its continued denial of the crime.

National Center for Armenian Remembrance Inaugurated in Décines, France

The National Center for Armenian Remembrance, in Décines, France
The National Center for Armenian Remembrance, in Décines, France

(asbarez.com) DÉCINES, France — On Sunday, October 20, French Minister of Culture Aurelie Filipetti inaugurated the National Center for Armenian Remembrance (Centre National de la Mémoire Arménienne) in the French city of Décines, journalist Jean Eckian reports.

For this occasion the Minister declared, “Never forget what happened in 1915. The facts are established, and the Armenian Genocide was recognized by law in the Republic.”

“The propaganda of its deniers can not be accepted,” Filipetti continued. “Therefore, with the commitment of President François Hollande, the government is considering legal means to ensure the observance of these principles established by our Constitution and our international and European obligations”, she said, referring to recently renewed efforts to make the denial of the Armenian Genocide illegal in France.

The center, housed in an ultra-modern building of 900 square meters, has a library, an archival chamber of 100 sq. meters and a conference room.

The Center’s collection is comprised of about 12,000 books and 110,000 documents, “part of which is processed, standardized and digitized.” The works cover the history, memory, language, culture, and art of the Armenian community of France and Europe.